Recently, I was introduced to the Palacios Maduro. Working with the Gomez Sanchez cigar family in Esteli, Mario W. Palacios created the Palacios line. With three generations of cigar industry heritage, the Gomez Sanchez family has a good deal of experience in creating cigars. Making use of a five year aged Pennsylvania Broadleaf wrapper, a seven year aged Mexican San Andres binder and a proprietary mix of filler, the Palacios Maduro is a flavorful medium bodied boutique cigar.

Pre-Light: The Pennsylvania Broadleaf Maduro wrapper is a dark earthy brown color, and makes the teal, black and gold band of the Palacios Maduro really stand out. Though very dry to the touch, there is a slight oily sheen to the cigar’s wrapper. As one would expect from Pennsylvania Broadleaf, the cigar is a little rough and bumpy with several prominent veins. All in all, this is a good looking cigar.

There is a mix barnyard and generic wood scent to the cigar’s wrapper. From the unlit foot of the Palacios Maduro comes a sweet interplay of wood, natural tobacco and coffee aromas. A slightly firm cold draw allows through notes of earth and Cuban coffee.

Burn: The draw on the Palacios Maduro Torpedo is quite good, and allows through plenty of smoke. Despite the burn being slightly wibbly-wobbly, it never gets to the point of needing correction from a lighter. The ash of this cigar tends to fall off without warning, and can make a bit of a mess on floors and clothing.

Flavor: The Palacios Maduro begins with a distinctive coffee note that is soon joined by pleasing sweetness that is present throughout the cigar. A mild black pepper begins to occur of the palate about half and inch into the cigar. The first third of the cigar is rounded out by background flavors of earth, nuts and leather. There is a strong coffee character to the retrohale. During the transition to the second third of the cigar there is a slight uptick in pepper, both through the nose and on the palate, but coffee still remains the dominant flavor. Coffee, oak, leather, toast and pepper are all present during the second third of the Palacios Maduro. The last third continues on with much the same flavors as the second third of the cigar with coffee, leather, toast and black pepper all present.

Overall: I went into this cigar knowing very little about it, so I didn’t have any preconceived notions going into it, and I ended up pleasantly surprised by it. While the Palacios Maduro is not an overly complex cigar, the flavor profile is quite pleasing. AJ Fernandez’s factory makes thing cigar for Palacios, and no one works with Pennsylvania Broadleaf the way AJ does. Those who enjoy sweet medium to full bodied cigars will find the Palacios Maduro much to their liking. Personally, I found that I like the Palacios Maduro more each time I smoked it. I will most likely pick up a box when they arrive at my local brick and mortar retailer. Coming in 12 count boxes, this is one of those cigars where it won’t break the bank to buy a box.

Pairing: The Palacios Maduro pairs perfectly with a strong cup of coffee, cappuccino or espresso. A peaty island single malt such as the Lagavulin 16, Laphroig Quarter Cask or Ardbeg 10 seems to go quite well with this cigar.

Cigar for this review were provided by Palacios Cigars. While their generosity is greatly appreciated, it does not effect the overall review of this cigar. At Toasted Foot we remain committed to providing impartial cigar and product reviews.